'Hactivists' with a purpose want to help charities

The term "hackers" tends to conjure up images of illicit cyberspace break-ins stealing personal financial information or embarrassing national-security secrets.

But some self-described hackers in Central Florida are coming together to do good instead of evil.

They call themselves "hacktivists." Their event, "Coding for a Cause," will select two local nonprofit organizations and develop websites and digital tools to help spread their message — a move aimed in part at boosting the charities' donations in tough economic times.

"Sometimes 'hacking' gets misconstrued as being something bad," said Ryan Price, a 29-year-old consultant and trainer for Drupal, a content-management system that can be used to build websites and blogs. "But it literally means tinkering, and there are all sorts of different hacking events. … We wanted to set aside a day and work with nonprofits."

Fueled by caffeine, fast food and a ridiculous number of surge protectors, the volunteer hackers will gather Feb. 11 and 12 at the Florida Drupal Camp at Rollins College in Winter Park. But nonprofits need to apply by Sunday to be considered. (See fldrupalcamp.org for details.)

For charities — and particularly small ones that lack technical expertise — the opportunity could be lucrative. Online fundraising grew 35 percent in 2010, and that rate is likely to continue or accelerate, according to Blackbaud, the leading global provider of software and services designed specifically for nonprofit organizations.

"Anymore, nonprofits are invisible if they're not on the Web," said Margaret Linnane, executive director of the Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership Center at Rollins College. "Potential donors can't find you, and they can't research your organization or make a donation."

The Rollins center is helping to choose the nonprofits that will benefit. Though more-traditional "snail-mail" letters and brochures still appeal to older baby boomers and their elders, Linnane said, younger donors prefer electronic communications.

Other experts agree.

"Writing a check and mailing it in is really not the way people are giving anymore," said Tyger Danger, an Orlando spokeswoman for MyCharityBox.com — a service that uses mobile technology and Facebook to boost digital giving while charging a small percentage of donations. Younger people tend to give when they are sitting down, with laptops or cellphones, and something inspires them — whether a YouTube video, Facebook post or even a TV commercial.

The beauty of the process, Danger said, is that it allows consumers to donate in the moment they feel most passionate about a cause. Let some time go by, inject a few interruptions, add some costly reality of daily life — like a new credit-card statement — and would-be donors might have second thoughts.

The average increase in donations for nonprofits that sign up for MyCharityBox.com, she said, is 45 percent.

But the Drupal community — united by the idea of sharing computer code for free — believes in helping people to help themselves, rather than charging even a small fee.

"All you have to do is show up and put on your thinking cap. You have to want to be there," Price said. "The No. 1 thing for us is actually to be able to get inexperienced people in an environment where they can sit down and work next to someone who is very experienced and work on the same project."

It's not just knowledge for knowledge's sake either. Mike Anello, principal partner at Anello Consulting and one of the camp organizers, said he hopes volunteers who want to learn how to use Drupal — employed on websites from WhiteHouse.gov to Sony — might be able to pick up job skills from it. Already, the Merritt Island resident has trained laid-off aerospace workers looking for a new career path. So far, 14 of the 18 students in his recently completed 10-week course have landed internships.